I was on my usual early morning brisk walk. With nothing unusual to capture my attention on the street, I decided to imagine that I was strolling on a fantasy beach.
“Dad.. Wait for me. I want to walk with you..”.
A familiar sweet voice pulled me back to reality! Surprised to see my little one up so early, I slowed down.
“Dad, isn’t it selfish to put on the oxygen mask before helping someone on an airplane?”
Selfish by Nature
With an indulgent expression on my face, I thought “Wow.. My 7-year-old is growing up!”.
I thought of the days when the incessant flow of questions sounded more like:
“Dad, do people eat burgers on the moon?”
“Why is it Sunday today?”
“Will it be Sunday the whole day?”
“Why are you wearing a blue shirt?”
“Why do you like your car soooo much?”
“Do you like your car more than you like to comb your hair?”
“Why does Mandrake live in Xanadu?”
“Are there trillion billion butterflies?
“Are you wearing a blue shirt today?”
“Will the pink elephant be sad if I talked to a blue elephant?”
I learned a significant lesson when she was about two. She wasn’t really looking for answers (at least not from me!). She just wanted the freedom and space to ask questions.
Since then I have almost always allowed her to keep her sense of curiosity by giving very profound (!) responses like:
“Aahhh, I hadn’t thought of that!”
“Hmmm..”
“Errr.. maybe..”
“Hmmm..”
This morning seemed different.
Being a medical doctor it was easy for me to look for analogies within the human body.
“You know the Human Body chart we looked at the other day.. do you remember what we learned about the heart, blood, the veins….”
“Yes, and the Aorta..”
“Yes! The heart has the tremendous responsibility of pumping blood and supplying oxygen to every cell in our body, including its own cells and the muscle cells in the wall of the heart itself..”
I could see that I had caught her attention.
“Now, the Aorta is…”
She jumped in, “..the largest artery that comes out of the heart.. isn’t it, dad?”
“Yes, baby.. Guess which organ it supplies to first?”
“The heart?”
“Yes! Nature has made certain that the heart muscles are supplied first before any other organ.. even before the brain..”
“Oh..”
“So we can take a lesson from Nature and make sure that it is important… no, essential for us to look after ourselves first..
“Yes, dad.. If there is trouble in the airplane, I must wear the oxygen mask first. If I can breathe, I can help someone else breathe with their own oxygen masks..”
“When we are healthy and whole, we can help others reach the same goal. Is that a selfish thought?”
Just then, a bright blue sedan sped past us enveloping us in a dark cloud of smoke.
She reached out for an imaginary oxygen mask, pulled it over her mouth and said,
“No. But that car is selfish..”
“Car?”
“It is polluting the air…”
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